Psalm 102

[1] Hear my prayer, O LORD;   

         let my cry come to you.   

[2] Do not hide your face from me   

         in the day of my distress.   

    Incline your ear to me;   

         answer me speedily in the day when I call.

[3] For my days pass away like smoke,   

         and my bones burn like a furnace.   

[4] My heart is stricken and withered like grass;   

         I am too wasted to eat my bread.   

[5] Because of my loud groaning   

         my bones cling to my skin.   

[6] I am like an owl of the wilderness,   

         like a little owl of the waste places.   

[7] I lie awake;   

         I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.   

[8] All day long my enemies taunt me;   

         those who deride me use my name for a curse.   

[9] For I eat ashes like bread,   

         and mingle tears with my drink,   

[10] because of your indignation and anger;   

         for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.   

[11] My days are like an evening shadow;   

         I wither away like grass.

[12] But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;   

         your name endures to all generations.   

[13] You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,   

         for it is time to favor it;   

         the appointed time has come.   

[14] For your servants hold its stones dear,   

         and have pity on its dust.   

[15] The nations will fear the name of the LORD,   

         and all the kings of the earth your glory.   

[16] For the LORD will build up Zion;   

         he will appear in his glory.   

[17] He will regard the prayer of the destitute,   

         and will not despise their prayer.   

[18] Let this be recorded for a generation to come,   

         so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:   

[19] that he looked down from his holy height,   

         from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,   

[20] to hear the groans of the prisoners,   

         to set free those who were doomed to die;   

[21] so that the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion,   

         and his praise in Jerusalem,   

[22] when peoples gather together,   

         and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

[23] He has broken my strength in midcourse;   

         he has shortened my days.   

[24] "O my God," I say, "do not take me away   

         at the mid-point of my life,   

    you whose years endure   

         throughout all generations."

[25] Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,   

         and the heavens are the work of your hands.   

[26] They will perish, but you endure;   

         they will all wear out like a garment.   

    You change them like clothing, and they pass away;   

[27] but you are the same, and your years have no end.   

[28] The children of your servants shall live secure;   

         their offspring shall be established in your presence.